He pulled the bowl of popcorn atop his leg and carefully placed one arm behind her. Rambo jumped up on the other side and put his chin on her broken leg.

If Hank had to go all the way back to a first date experience, he would.

As they watched the movie, their bodies seemed to settle in closer to one another. He held her hand and kissed her fingers once, which made her smile.

After the movie was over, he told her that in a little while, he needed to go out for an hour, but that he’d be back after that, and sleeping on the couch if she needed him.

As he left the room, he was thinking: If she were any other woman, I’d . . .

He considered slamming his head against the wall. She wasn’t any other woman. He was helping her, nothing more.

Chapter 16 - Benjamin

Chapter 16

Benjamin

Wednesday

Pushing himself into peril, Ben tapped on Professor Clark’s office door. It was after five, but he could hear her bouncing around talking to herself.

“How may I help you, Ben?” she asked in a none-too-friendly tone as she opened their connecting door. She had her cell in one hand and a pencil in the other. A warrior working.

Ben almost backed away. But he knew if he chickened out this time he’d never work up the courage again. “My father called and said he was heating up the grill. You want to drive out to the farm for ribs?”

She looked over at the paperwork on her desk.

Ben braced himself for rejection. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d asked anyone to dinner. And this wasn’t anything, really. He just wanted to get to know her, see how she’d changed. Maybe even talk about that weekend twenty years ago. Problem was, how could he talk to her about their shared weekend when she obviously didn’t remember him?

“I could show you the start of my vineyards. All three rows.” He didn’t want to build the outing up too much.

She finally looked at him. “I’d love to. Can I bring dessert?”

“No. Dad invited a few of the neighbors. Sarah, from the farm to the north, will bring cobbler, and if Donna and Rex come, we’ll have homemade ice cream to go with it.”

Jenny leaned her head sideways. “People make ice cream?”

Ben nodded slowly. “City girl,” he whispered, remembering he’d called her that twenty years ago when she didn’t know how to bait a hook and she’d called him “farmer.”

She was too busy organizing her desk to have heard him. When she saw that he was still standing in her doorway, she said, “I’ll be ready in a minute, Dr. Monroe. Just let me get my purse.” She bumped the door between their offices closed with her hip.